


do you believe in the day

by handschuhmaus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gravid creates a discontinuity in Sith knowledge, Alternate Universe - Jedi driven off Coruscant by mundane causes, Cosinga Palpatine the Ferret-faced Fink, Forbidden Knowledge from the Dark Side, Hogwarts is irrelevant but Xanatos is Very Slytherin, Minor Character Death, Plagueis is more or less in a Gilbert Norrell position, Renaissance AU of sorts, Their birth order if not their exact ages is that of the actors here, Trans Characters, destruction and propagation of knowledge, the canon ages of Qui-Gon and Palpatine relative to Dooku are nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-18 22:03:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20646374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handschuhmaus/pseuds/handschuhmaus
Summary: Some 890 years ago, the Jedi dispersed from Coruscant, the city planet host to a terrible plague.Now, Jedi Astro-cartographer Qui-Gon Jinn, of the Naboo outpost, happens upon enemies of the Jedi, in the guise of fellow academics. But who is in the right, here?





	do you believe in the day

**Author's Note:**

> This owes something major to a mention of an AU from unspeakablehorror. But it has a _lot_ of other influences.

Somehow it failed to be a solemn occasion, much as Qui-Gon Jinn was expecting just that. Dania Xanatos was gone, to the consequence of her folly, and the fact that Knight Kim was dead did not bear all the weight ze thought it would. 

Perhaps it was the Jedi deference of the funeral, as proscribed, and the fact that ze had met Kim in the botanical garden, among the shade plants inside the climbing plants arbor. Simply: one recently added to their numbers, if no more recently than Qui-Gon, had been lost, yet the biweekly meeting of the Friends of the Theed Botanical Parks was only, if anything, slightly subdued, nowhere near as solemn as ze thought a Jedi dominated organization would be. 

At the close of business, ze remained, fingering the constellation pendant hanging on the delicate chain about zir neck and considering the data to be processed before the trip to the outer rim. Ze had fallen into astronomy largely because it was considered more useful, more suiting of a Jedi, than things like botany. They had to keep knowledge alive, but what was befitting of a Jedi was up to the judgement of the council, and with Master Dooku's help, ze had only just found something acceptable. 

The Jedi Order did not trust secular transmission of knowledge, even as they now and then relied on it (such as at this Naboo outpost, where they had finally sanctioned zir appointment). Qui-Gon privately felt zir order was greedy and even dangerous at times, but without it, ze would never have met Master Dooku, and zir home planet was, they said, wartorn, in this unfortunate age in which the Jedi could not guard the galaxy. Never mind that that had been going on since Master Yoda was knighted, about the time the Great Plague hit Coruscant, the now graveyard planet.

"Cultivation of three further species has been banned," Ornistenn told zir, in a low voice.

"Three more?" echoed Qui-Gon in frustrated horror. It was getting to be a regular occurrence, plant species extinguished from Jedi areas and databases, for the error of being relied upon by rebel factions. Alderaan had once hosted a Mandalorian garden and the very day after Dania and ze had visited, the Jedi detachment set it aflame--some diplomatic disagreement.

"Gungun water herb, Nass oilseed solflower, and Naboo mountain tealeaf," Ornistenn elaborated. Qui-Gon did not much associate with the Gunguns of Naboo, but ze knew two of these, the first and last, were medicinal and, due to sales restrictions and the War Against the Fish, oilseed was a major dietary source of fat for their species. 

"This is becoming a rebel organization, by nothing more than the bans crowding out acceptable plants," ze observed quietly.

"Don't say that!" Ornistenn hissed. 

"You're a historian," Qui-Gon rebuked, thinking about the fact that ze zirself peered back into history, once light travel time was accounted for. But what were they looking for, the astro-surveying corps? Some said possible invaders. Dania, who had mostly learned how to operate and design technical devices, had said on more than one occasion, but rare ones, that they were looking for Sith. Certainly the prevailing sentiment was that the Jedi would pull together better with a single, known enemy. Who or what that enemy might be didn't bear thinking about. 

"Are you going to take on the boy?" Ornistenn asked urgently, with a sudden change of topic.

It did not improve Qui-Gon's mood. "Why should I? I did nothing for Feemor--he, no, sorry--_she's_ been sent off to Bandomere to supervise the AgriCorps fields, and Xanatos, well, has _fallen_." Feemor's role might be, in theory, important, but its importance reflected only the historical anomaly that now the council was fed, in their paranoia, entirely on crops from Bandomere, rather than the agricultural installment functioning as the important cost-saving measure it had been when the headquarters were on a completely urban planet. Feemor had never eaten Bandomere crops while a padawan, and Qui-Gon had only done so on the rare occasions when called upon to visit Grandmaster Yoda. In contrast, zir peer Mace Windu, groomed as Yoda's right-hand man, enjoyed (if that was the right word) a completely Jedi-produced diet.

"He'll be sent off to the AgriCorps if not, and I have my suspicions that he would do well as your student," was Ornistenn's matter-of-fact protest.

It seemed less urgent to zir, in light of the musicians currently in town. "He won't be just yet. The council refused to permit Jedi passage while Theed spaceport is occupied by the Lelldejor ships." 

"Why?!" Ornistenn huffed, not quite directing it at Qui-Gon. "What are they so afraid of from a _musician_?"

"'His people may not recognize the political and historical significance of shipping a group of trainees off to Bandomere'," Qui-Gon quoted, from the Council's statement.

"And they expect a musical entourage to _stop_ a Jedi voyage," the Mon Calimar observed irritably.

Sounding more like zirself, Qui-Gon retorted, "No, only to make trouble for it. Besides, I can't take Obi-Wan on the survey voyage, and clearly the local fostering was bad for Xanatos."

"She was...not a very good Jedi, regardless." Although Ornistenn seemed reluctant to make this judgement.

Qui-Gon grimaced. "Well, no. I am not what they call a good Jedi, myself. But it's true--she was particularly difficult in these recent days, about the tasks the council set her."

"And Kim dead."

"You noticed! I expected it to affect things more, today."

Ornistenn looked carefully at zir. "I think it is because he is from here, and the Jedi don't always like that, a posting back to home."

"It could be."

"Did you consult with the stellar physics group? I've heard they think you'll come across some curious things out there." Ze had not, nor heard this conjecture...


End file.
